If you were to draw an oily line from the first exploitation of oil in the Middle East by the British in 1901 (they were in the process of
converting their then world dominating naval fleet from coal to oil and were in desperate need of it) to the overthrow of the secular democratic
leader in Iran, Mohammed Mossadeq, in 1953, to the Iraq War, to the criminal environmental catastrophe in the Gulf, BP would have been there.

But the fourth largest company in the world wasn't always called BP. It used to be owned by the British Government (remember the navy armada in need
of oil). It was named the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company when the CIA teamed up with the British because the Western style Iranian leader Mossadeq wanted
to nationalize Britain's 100% owned and run giant oil concession in Iran, and the West would have none of that. So Eisenhower authorized "Operation
Ajax," and the Shah of Iran was placed in power -- ruling with an iron fist and the dreaded SAVAK, all the time fully backed by the U.S. -- leading
to the radical theocratic revolution that we still confront today. All the time BP, which formally adopted its current name in 1954, was there.

BP was there throughout the de facto colonization of the Middle East to provide oil to the West, the British and the U.S. remaining strong partners in
keeping any recalcitrant nations in line. Which leads to the Iraq War and why many Americans and Brits were puzzled by Tony Blair's eagerness to go
along with Cheney's secret oil committee plan to seize Iraq oil fields and Bush's belief that the war was Biblically justified. BP is the largest
corporation in the UK and the third largest energy company. Do you have any more questions?

BP and its American counterparts are part of the corporate oligarchy that run governments when it comes to energy policy. They don't take orders from
sovereign nations; they give them. They are unelected, but because of their hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue and profit, they run the show
when it comes to oil policy, and profit comes first: forget about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Oil is their gold; we are just
consumers who can be replaced at any time by more consumers, vassals to the oil company Masters of the Universe. There is no brake on their
malfeasance, greed and criminal behavior, nor their ability to get nations to go to war, overthrow democratically elected leaders, and to get away
with pollution of proportions beyond the imagination.

Although a few of the elements outlined in the above article have been touched on in previous threads, i thought the above article was an interesting
synopsis of BP's sordid corporate history ... at least as a starting point for further inquiry.

We often allude to how global corporations usurp the rights of sovereign nations, never mind the ordinary citizens thereof ... the sober machinations
of BP's historical actions are all but the very definition of this dynamic.

By 1953 both the US and the UK both had new, more anti-communist and more interventionist administrations. The United States no longer opposed
intervention in Iran. Britain was unable to subvert Mossadegh as its embassy and officials had been evicted from Iran in October 1952, but
successfully appealed in the U.S. to anti-communist sentiments, depicting both Mossadegh and Iran as unstable and likely to fall to communism in their
weakened state. If Iran fell, the "enormous assets" of "Iranian oil production and reserves" would fall into Communist control, as would "in
short order the other areas of the Middle East". In August the American CIA with the help of bribes to politicians, soldiers, mobs, and
newspapers, and contacts/information from the British embassy and secret service, organized a coup. The shah issued an edict removing Mosaddeq from
power and General Fazlollah Zahedi, led tanks to Mosaddeq's residence overthrowing him from office.

Succesfuly appealed in the U.S. to anti-communist sentiments. This means they started a major propaganda campaign to justify their actions. The
masses had no idea and thought they were supporting God and country while behind the scenes we were just keeping the powerful in power. Amazing stuff
S-Dog. This material makes a lot of things clearer for me.

The external source was from a link in the article that took me to wikipedia. Truly amazing how easy it seems for them to hold their positions while
we blindly go along with their plans under the guise of fear and nationality. S+F.

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